THE POSSIBILITY OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

By

Dortell Williams

(Approx. 450 words non-fiction)

Okay, so this is the twenty-first century and we’ve come a long way in our various contemporary gains, but it seems the law enforcement community wants to leap backwards, behind even our most modern advances by arresting, jailing and trying citizens for offenses they might commit, as opposed to crimes they’ve already done.
I’m not talking about the discovery of a newly identified criminal gene lurking in, well, probably everyone who’s ever been tempted to break the law.
I’m talking old witch-hunt-style, McCarthy-like speculation, conjecture and guesswork.
At least that’s how it sounded to me when some Los Angeles district attorneys announced that the non-violent crime of burglary would be excluded from the list of offenses now being considered for repeal under the Three Strikes law.
Their characterization of burglars transcends into another type of crime all together, quote: “A burglar is a rapist in the making,” end quote. In other words, non-violent burglars who broke into unoccupied, even vacant dwellings and open underground garages will not be eligible to have their current life terms reduced to sentences that fit the crime should this disreputable law be amended; leaving a significant number of non-violent people behind bars; in many ways defeating the very purpose of the people’s call for an amendment.
Such an adverse approach opens the door for a widespread policy of prejudgment, or punishment, for the mere possibility of criminal behavior.
Recent protests in Texas overturned such a policy when the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission voted to arrest potential drunks in bars. Undercover agents would infiltrate public bars and arrest suspected drunks because, as spokeswoman Carolyn Beck put it, they, quote: “might have tried to drive,” end quote.
Ha, so much for designated drivers!
So why stop there? Since the uniformed blame rape victims based on their attire, why not ban all tight, transparent or short apparel? Or, how about prohibiting all exotic dance and escort services? Why not even go as far as banning all athletic games due to their potential for player-on-player assaults? Of course, I am being facetious here, but this potential rapist assertion takes prevention to an absolutely ridiculous level.
It is yet another pathway toward this recent pattern of mass arrests based on labeling, grouping and presumption.
Believe me, I know the invaded-upon feeling of being burglarized and I empathize with like victims, but life sentences for drug addicted and otherwise afflicted burglars is just down right inhumane.
On the other hand, I’ve got to give the Texas citizenry credit, like the colorful and solidified immigrants now in protests, for refusing to sit silently by in the face of various repeated attempts as mass injustice.

Thank you for reading this segment of “A Prisoner’s Perspective.”

Resource list:

Paul Leavitt, “Texas Drops Bar-Arrest Sting,” USA Today, April 14, 2006: 3A

These commentaries are produced by Noelle Hanrahan at prisonradio.org and KPFK’s Sonali Kolhatkar at uprisingradio.org

May 2006